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Volta is designed to run entirely on your own infrastructure. A single docker compose up -d command brings up the complete production stack: the Volta application (backend API and frontend dashboard bundled together), PostgreSQL 17 for persistent data, Redis 7 for caching and rate limiting, Temporal for durable workflow scheduling, and the Temporal UI for workflow monitoring. No managed cloud services are required.

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Prerequisites

Before you begin, make sure the following are available on your server:
The Docker Compose path handles PostgreSQL, Redis, and Temporal for you — you only need Docker itself installed on the host. The Node.js and pnpm requirements apply only if you are running a local development setup outside of Docker.
RequirementMinimum version
Docker (with Compose v2)Latest stable
Node.js (local dev only)>= 20.17
pnpm (local dev only)>= 10.6
PostgreSQL (local dev only)>= 15
Redis (local dev only)>= 7

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Deploy with Docker Compose

1

Clone the repository and start the stack

Clone the Volta repository, then bring up all services in detached mode:
git clone https://github.com/your-org/postsider.git
cd postsider
docker compose up -d
Docker will pull all required images — Volta, PostgreSQL 17, Redis 7, Temporal, and the Temporal UI — and start them in the correct dependency order. The first pull may take a couple of minutes depending on your connection.
Generate a secure JWT_SECRET before starting the stack in production:
openssl rand -base64 32
Copy the output and set it as JWT_SECRET in your docker-compose.yaml (see the Environment Variables section below) before running docker compose up -d.
To follow the startup logs and confirm everything is healthy:
docker compose logs -f postsider
2

Open the dashboard and complete bootstrap

Once the postsider container is healthy, open your browser and navigate to:
http://localhost:4007
On first launch, Volta detects that no admin account exists and runs the bootstrap flow automatically. This creates a placeholder admin account and prints a one-time password to the container logs. You’ll use that password to complete your initial sign-in in the next step.
3

First login — set your real credentials

Sign in with the bootstrap credentials:
  • Email: admin@setup.local
  • Password: the one-time password printed in the terminal during bootstrap
# Retrieve the one-time password from logs
docker compose logs postsider | grep -i "password"
After signing in, Volta immediately redirects you to the /setup screen. Enter your real name, email address, and a strong password. Once saved, you’re logged in as the permanent administrator — the admin@setup.local placeholder is replaced and can no longer be used.
Public registration is disabled by default (DISABLE_REGISTRATION=true in the Docker Compose environment). Additional users join via Settings → Users → Invite from inside the dashboard.

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Environment variables

The docker-compose.yaml ships with sensible defaults for a local setup. For any internet-facing deployment you must update the variables below. Edit them directly in the environment: block of the postsider service in docker-compose.yaml.
JWT_SECRET must be set to a non-empty, unique random string. The backend refuses to start without it, and using a weak or shared secret in production is a serious security risk.
VariableDescriptionExample
JWT_SECRETRandom string used to sign session tokens. Generate with openssl rand -base64 32.s3cr3t...
DATABASE_URLPostgreSQL connection string.postgresql://postsider-user:password@postsider-postgres:5432/postsider-db-local
REDIS_URLRedis connection string.redis://postsider-redis:6379
FRONTEND_URLThe public URL where the dashboard is accessible. Must match exactly what users type in the browser.https://volta.yourcompany.com
NEXT_PUBLIC_BACKEND_URLThe public URL of the backend API, reachable from users’ browsers. In the default single-container setup this is FRONTEND_URL + /api.https://volta.yourcompany.com/api
All other variables — social platform OAuth keys, storage provider settings, optional AI and payment integrations — can be left blank until you need them. See .env.example in the repository for a full annotated reference.

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Updating Volta

Pull the latest images and restart the stack. Volta applies any pending database migrations automatically on startup. 
docker compose pull
docker compose up -d
Running containers are replaced one at a time with zero manual intervention. Check the logs after the update to confirm the new version started cleanly: 
docker compose logs -f postsider

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Backups

All persistent state lives in the postsider-postgres volume. Back up the database regularly using pg_dump: 
docker exec postsider-postgres \
  pg_dump -U postsider-user postsider-db-local > backup.sql
Store backup.sql in a safe off-host location. To restore, pipe the dump back through psql: 
cat backup.sql | docker exec -i postsider-postgres \
  psql -U postsider-user -d postsider-db-local
The postsider-uploads volume holds user-uploaded media files when STORAGE_PROVIDER=local. Back up this volume separately, or switch to Cloudflare R2 (STORAGE_PROVIDER=cloudflare) to store uploads in object storage instead.